MOM’S TIPS FOR BETTER TRAVEL WITH CHILDREN-part 1

“OVERPACK. It’s why suitcases have wheels now”.

I think that all of us already dream of a vacation. The times of one hand luggage and one paid luggage are long gone. Why? Because maybe I’m not the only one which packs the essentials and most important items in a small language, while my kids have the following stuff packed: panties, socks, pajamas, short sleeves, long sleeves, shorts, leggings, jeans, winter jackets, blouse, hats and preferable shoes for any change of weather. I don’t count their favourite teddy bears without which they will not fall asleep, bedtime stories, and all the necessary cosmetics for children. 

But packing is only a small start to the vacation plan. The most important thing is:

How to survive traveling with a child?

I’ve had some less wonderful times traveling with my kids. I will focus on showing a few examples from three different modes of transport. I hope you avoid all my little trip trouble after reading it.

PLANE TRIP WITH KIDS

The success of this trip depends largely on delayed flights. This of course I had to go through several times. When the son couldn’t walk yet and grabbed everything to move, they left us on the plane for 1 hour. It was very hot and he wants to walk from one side of the plane to the other, holding my hands. I was exhausted, water and treats were scarce and the service’s plane was not available. Back then, I was lucky enough to breastfeed because it kept my baby from crying uncontrollably.

The second child was without breastfeeding, but then, after previous experience, my hand luggage contained 3 bottles of water and about 10 packets of fruit or vegetable puree. 

My daughter, sleeping beauty (compared to my son) fell asleep right after the plane took off. Moments before landing, she began to wake up and I felt her wet and so were my trousers. I ran to the toilet with all my backpack thinking it was just a soaked diaper. Now please write down:

Changeable clothes for a child, minimum of three sets, you must have what I packed.

But I didn’t pack my clothes to change, and it wasn’t a wee-wee problem. I will leave your imagination with a picture of me changing the whole dirty child’s clothes, washing the child, dressing in clean clothes, everything in the cramped plane toilet.

Unfortunately, I had nothing to change into, so my bright orange trousers looked like pouring coffee. And I presented my son with a made-up story about spilled coffee, louder so that everyone can hear and believe. But you, my dear readers, know the truth.

CAR TRIP WITH KIDS

This tour is not that bad, as long as you are not stuck in traffic jams, don’t mix the route, or don’t face bad weather. It’s worth packing extra food with long shelf life: brioche, croissants. The fruit snack or fruit and vegetables puree in a squeeze bag, preferably in several different flavours.

I know there are many gas stations with food and drink but better to be prepared for the traffic jams last 2-3 hours.

During these trips, my son either fell asleep (we were driving at night) or kept talking all the time because he has a stage of “100 questions about…”

But with my daughter, this trip is, unfortunately, only stress and torture for her. While driving, my little one constantly vomits and cries. He falls asleep for a while, but most trips vomit. We had 5 stops on an hour’s drive just to change and wash my baby girl and sometimes wash me. In the meantime, my husband was looking for more plastic bags and a dozen tissues. We bought tablets in a pharmacy to ease the vomiting reflex in children, unfortunately, without any effect, the syrup did not help either. The older son even came up with a game: “One, two, three – vomit-free” and he was repeating this rhyme to his poor younger sister. This was my main reason for changing the mode of transport.

TRAIN TRIP WITH KIDS

To sum up, for us with our daughter’s current vomiting problem, the train is the best means of transportation. Also, the train journey for me and my children is one of the easiest of all described previously. Lots of space, and more toilets, even with delays of more than 60 minutes, the door opens and you can safely go out into the fresh air. Food and drinks are served non-stop. 

In this case, our journey was 5 hours. Maybe it took a long time, but during the trip, my children were painting, playing, or browsing children’s magazines, with stickers. Stickers are a good idea for any trip. They as well played with small toys that might get lost. My son is a fan of race care, so we usually come back from such trips with a lack of two cars. https://littlepuzzlesandme.com/how-children-make-a-racing-car-from-toilet-paper-rolls/. Sometimes with another additional toy, not ours, especially when our son finds kid’s friends to play with and exchange toys.

Of course, they ate and drank, and even slept. 

The older son used to go to the toilet alone, and when he met other children along the way, they played together. During the route from the Czech Republic to Poland, you can admire the beautiful scenery from the window. Wild animals in the pastures.

Like most children, my kids will spill their juice or get dirty while eating, but traveling with kids has taught me to have a spare change of clothes and a stock of imaginary stories in my head.

My dear parents, what do your travels, with children look like, similar to mine?